dicktracyfandomcom-20200214-history
Sam Catchem
Detective Sam Catchem joined Dick Tracy's precinct as Tracy's new partner after Chief Brandon resigned and Pat Patton succeeded him Chief of Police. Before he became a police officer, Sam claimed to have worked in a delicatessen, been a dentist, and studied law. His first case was to gather information about Big Frost's remaining gang members, using the help of an old acquaintance from Boston; Sleet. Sleet's mother was on trial for having sent secret messages to Big Frost in prison. Sam had enough evidence against her to send her to jail for twenty years. Sleet and her mother turned on Sam, chloroforming him and dumping his body over an overpass leaving him for dead. Tracy's adoptive son Junior and his Crimestoppers Club managed to find Sam, and they notified Tracy and Chief Patton. Sleet was eventually caught and Sam recovered just in time to arrest her. Tracy and Sam s olved many crimes together, and survived quite a few death-traps, such as Sketch Paree's sinking room. Sam remained a loyal partner to Tracy through good times and bad, and he played a significant role in The Apparatus (nationwide Crime Syndicate) investigation when dying mobster Big Boy put out a million dollar Open Contract on Tracy. After Pat Patton was shot, Sam took over temporarily as the Chief. In 1987 Sam was framed for a bank robbery by an unknown criminal dubbed The Man of a Million Faces who impersonated Sam, as well as Ronald Reagan, Albert Einstien, David Letterman, Diet Smith, and even Dick Tracy. The criminal, eventually discovered to be called Putty Puss, was an insane actor whose face had been disfigured in a car crash. After a failed experimental procedure under the supervision of the late Dr. Will Carver to restore his face, Putty Puss was able to change his face around to resemble anyone he wanted. Sam was cleared of the charges and resumed his role as Tracy's partner. In 2006, during the incident with Dr. Figment Froid's mind reading device, Tracy was surprised to learn that he and Sam belong to different political parties. Recently, Sam has caught the attention of the FBI Agent Fritz Ann, who sometimes works with the Major Crimes Unit. Sam does not encourage the agent's affections and remains faithful to his wife. This has not stopped Fritz Ann from aggressively flirting with Sam, even going so far as to grab him and kiss him. Trivia: *Sam is best known for his loyalty, smarts, compassion, surprised exclamations of "Oy yi!", and the sandwiches he keeps in his pocket on his wife's homemade rye. *In his debut storyline, Sam claims to have joined the police 25 years ago. The story takes place in 1949, which would mean Sam became a policeman in approximately 1924, 7 years before the comic strip began. *Sam is the one who initiated the collection and preservation of Tracy's hats that are damaged in the line of duty. *Sam is openly and proudly Jewish, and often invites the Tracys and their extended family to join his in holiday celebrations. *In 2011, during the strip's 80th Anniversary storyline, Sam told Lizz about how Dick Tracy originally came to be a plainclothes officer. The fact that Sam was not actually present at the time may account for the various discrepencies between his story and how the events were originally presented. *Sam is a smoker, and is often depicted with a cigarette in his mouth. This was not uncommon at the time the character was introduced, but with changing attitudes towards smoking and health it is surprising to see the habit displayed on a modern newspaper comics page. OTHER MEDIA ' Live-Action TV Series' Sam Catchem was a recurring character in the 1950s "Dick Tracy" TV Series, starring Ralph Byrd. Sam was played by actor Joe Devlin (1894-1973). He was depicted as Tracy's regular partner. Movie Continuity Sam was a supporting character in the 1990 feature film "Dick Tracy". He was played by actor Seymour Cassel. He was shown as being one of Tracy's partners, along with Pat Patton, under the command of Chief Brandon. He was well-meaning but not especially relevant to the plot, though he did participate in the new Year's Eve shootout at Club Ritz. In the scene where The Kid reveals that he has chosen the name "Dick Tracy, Jr.", Sam can be heard saying that if could pick any name for himself, he'd pick "Sam". Sam was the only police officer character besides Dick Tracy to be made into an action figure by Playmates Toys for the movie tie-in toy line. This was also the case for the 2002 mini-figure line produced by Mezco Toys, where Sam came in a 2-pack with Flattop Jones Sr. Known Relatives: *Marge Catchem (Wife) *Julie Catchem (Daughter) *Unnamed Daughter Fellow/former Squad Members: *Dick Tracy *Chief Pat Patton *Lee Ebony *Lizz Worthington-Grove *Johnny Adonis *Lt. Teevo (Deceased) *Det. Frisk (Missing, presumed Deceased) Category:Police Officers Category:Movie Characters